This invention relates generally to accessories for golf clubs and, more particularly, to a practice aid and practice system for improving a golfer's putting stroke.
It has been often said that "you drive for show, but you putt for dough." This statement illustrates that putting is the single most important part of the game of golf Fully one half of the strokes on a par 72 golf course are allotted for putting--two strokes per hole. Sub-par rounds are most frequently attained by reducing the number of putts taken.
While being most important, putting is also the most exacting and difficult part of the game. One reason for the difficulty of putting is that the club and stroke utilized for putting are vastly different from all other clubs and strokes used to advance a golf ball from tee to hole. Whereas a variety of different wood and iron clubs are available to advance a golf ball from tee to green, only a single club--the putter--is utilized for moving the ball on the green into the hole.
The wood and iron clubs all incorporate club faces having varying degrees of loft to enable a struck golf ball to elevate and travel substantial distances through the atmosphere. Air travel is desirable, while surface travel (the ubiquitous "worm burner") is not, since air offers less resistance than does grass.
In contrast, the face of a putter has virtually no loft, for putting involves rolling a ball along the contours of the surface of a green. Air travel is undesirable, since it restricts accuracy, and moving the ball substantial distances is unnecessary.
Effectively stroking a golf ball with the woods and irons requires a golfer to take a strong swing to accelerate the clubhead and strike the ball with substantial force to move it great distances. The amount of force varies with the distance requirements of a particular shot. Distances for wood and iron shots are estimated and quoted in yards, usually in five- or ten-yard increments. A successful shot can be one that varies as much as ten or twenty yards in distance, and be as much as ten or fifteen yards off-line from the ideal. Of course, standards of success for short, lofted pitch shots are a bit more stringent than for drives, fairway and long approaches.
In great contrast, putting distances are estimated and quoted in feet, sometimes in half-feet (as in "three-and-a-half foot birdie putt"). A putt that is off line as little as one-half inch can be disastrous (as in an errant downhill putt struck firmly). The putting stroke is a carefully controlled stroke executed with a relatively weak swing, for too much force can sometimes have nasty consequences (see downhill putt, above), while too little force is nearly always unacceptable (as in "never up, never in").
Thus, while accuracy is desirable in all golf strokes, putting requires it. While a glove is customarily worn on a golfer's lead hand (left hand for "righties", right hand for "lefties") for all wood and iron shots, it is seldom worn for putting. Glove removal enhances a golfer's "feel" of the club. While all golf shots require some study and concentration, nothing compares to the time spent studying, pondering and standing over a putt.
Successful putting requires experience in reading greens and an accurate stroke to cause the ball to traverse a path predetermined to be correct. An accurate stroke requires great concentration, steady nerves, and good motor control. Most good golfers usually experience a deteriorating stroke (get the "yips") as age advances, because the ability to concentrate and motor control become more difficult with age.
Putting involves three variables. The first is a proper "line" or direction of initial ball travel (i.e. the proper aiming point). The second is proper ball speed (i.e. how hard to hit the ball) which cooperates with the proper line to enable the ball to reach a desired location, whether in the cup or nearby (as in a "lag" putt). These variables are mental determinations made by the golfer. The third variable is physical, being the proper putting stroke which will attain the proper line and ball speed. Successful putting is most dependent upon execution of a good stroke which will result in the ball physically attaining the predetermined line and speed.
Good stroke execution requires that the putter be oriented with its club face perpendicular to the desired initial direction of ball movement and that the club head be moving colinearly with this direction when the ball is struck. Many devices have been developed to improve the putting stroke. Some of these involve a special club configuration or restraint to aid a golfer in developing the desired clubhead orientation and putting stroke (backswing and followthrough). These are usually expensive, cumbersome and complicated.
It would be desirable to provide an inexpensive, convenient and simple practice aid and system for improving the putting stroke.